Yeah, that is a scary headline. I let my $100 subscription lapse too. Letting something like that slip out is just about as good as saying you are pulling out. It won't encourage people to buy more Mitsus.

 

You live in Norcal don't you?

 

99% of the time, it's a big mistake to listen to anything car dealers tell you. They always act as if they have some inside line on everything, when all they really know are rumors their other car dealer buddies tell them.

The last time I went to Dick Hanna Mitsubishi in Vancouver, WA, it had actually changed to a Kia or Hyundai or somethind dealership. When I asked where Dick Hanna Mitsubishi went, the guy told me Mitsubishi no longer sold cars in the United States anymore because they went bankrupt...but he could get me into a nice little piece of crap if I wanted to trade in my old Mitsubishi. Pretty much par for the course as far as car salesmen go. I'm not saying good knowledgable honest car dealerships and salesmen don't exist...I've just never seen one myself...

 

The US is a big market to pull out of, i doubt they would go out without a fight

 

mitsubishi made mmoney first quarter but in the states or globaly cause i mean outside of the US all u see is fuso trucks and other mitsu's ( well atleast from what i seen in south america). funny as hell i saw a box truck kinda big with a cab truck in the box with the cab sticking out. {that was in costa rica}

 

It sorta sounds as if Mitsubishi is blaming the US consumer for Mitsu's poor sales.

 

It must be the U.S.'s fault they make ugly underperforming cars...

Thank god there is a core community looking after the Evos...other than that, you couldn't get me to buy anything else with the diamond star on it. Gone are the Galant VR4's, Eclipse GSX's, and 3000GT VR4's...and here are the ugly heavy pieces of crap FWD new Eclipses (3G and 4G), and everything else is ugly as well.

 

well think some "american" car maker will use the evo X's engine and some "korean" car maker will use the same engine aswell

and all the engine thats sold to each of these auto maker will profit mitsubishi they aint going anywhere

 

That statement is not totally true. Yes they share an engine but, those companies helped design that engine and will produce their own versions of it not buy it from Mitsu.

 

Mitsu corp is too big of a company to stop feeding their american motor branch. I believe Mitsu CORP is one of the biggest companies in japan, if not the biggest. They will keep dumping money into their motor branch until they are profitable.

 

Mitsubishi Corporation is one of the largest companies in the world (top-10) so Mitsubishi Motors in the worst case scenario (just like what happened in 2005 when Daimler-Chrysler got rid of Mitsubishi) will get a cash backing from Mitsubishi Corporation so money is not a problem. But how long can you back up a company that doesn't generate any profit?

However, the problem is that Mitsubishis American management is doing a crappy job from marketing to designing (California Studios) cars. Recently when I was in Europe I have seen those cool looking new Mitsubishi L200 pickup trucks (which look million times better than the Raider, plus it's a true Mitsubishi design, not a rebadged Dakota), I have seen Mitsubishi Grandis (which is a van, something Mitsubishi really needs on the American market, and again, to my taste that is the coolest looking van I've seen so far, that includes everything that Honda, Toyota, and Nissan has thrown at the market), and then there is Mitsubishi Colt (smaller than a regular Lancer but again, it looks better than Toyota Yaris). So Mitsubishi is capable of designing good looking vehicles, just not in USA. But the questionthat remains is WHY?

Good thing is that the Mitsubishi Motors of US is now runned by the Japanese, the current sales are getting a bit better but in all reality even the greatest CEO would have problems with picking up the sales of the current American line-up as in my opinion current crop of cars is just plain simply ugly (I still don't understand why they Americanized the current Galant instead of just evolving the 99-03 shape into something more modern) , they need a completely redesigned lineup, until then their sales won't see any dramatic improvement.

Good news is that the new Outlander coming out this fall looks really good, has a good engine, and it actually has an aluminum roof (which should help reduce the weight and improve handling), overall a very good designed vehicle and the best selling SUV in Japan for the past 6 months (yup it even beats Rav4). Concept X and Sporstback Concept also look good but basically what will define Mitsubishis survival in USA in the next 3 years is the new Lancer, new Galant, and probably the next gen Endevour.

 

in the meantime, the evo's and the outlanders are keeping mitsu afloat until 2008

 

I wouldn't doubt it too much. Afterall, the Lancer Evolution wasn't here until segment 8. That goes to say a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped selling Evo's in this country. However, Mitsubishi going out as a whole, not so sure. Mitsubishi has to go out of their way to sell us Evo's, they have to make them emissions safe, change the rear bumper, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut us off. That costs a lot of $$ in the long run, plus they have to give us left hand drive. 80% of the rest of the countries they sell to are right hand, think about how costly this is. It's just like the Skyline.

 

A letter was sent out by mitsubishi that states the company won't be leaving the U.S. I work at a dealer and have this letter in hand. Btw I am writing it word for word.

To our valued partners in the United States:

As you may know, a story focusing on Mitsubishi Motors U.S operations appeared in automotive News Monday.

We must tell you, first and foremost, that, as we have stated repeatedly, there is no intention on the part of MMC/MMNA to withdraw from the U.S. Market. This is a most important point.

That said, we can confirm that there was an event in Japan last week, at which several journalists were introduced to our new outlander. In general, this new vehicle was very well received. Among the journalists attending was a reporter from Automotice News.

The Automotive News story includes statements attributed to Mr. Kurihara that were grossly misinterpreted. He was expressing tremendous enthusiasm for the new C segment platform, of which the Outlander is the first vehicle. He expressed that over the six years with this new platform, MMC is very eager to have it be successful. This will be a critical element of MMC's global product strategy, of which, North America is a key market.

The Automotive News story simplified this very broad comment into a simple equation that Outlander sales will determine the future of Mitsubishi Motors in North America, which is obviously not true.

We have very high hopes that Outlander will be a tremendous success here in the United States, as it has been in Japan. We must all work together to ensure that sales increases occur and that the Outlander is launched successfully, as we successfully launched the Eclipse coupe and are in the process of successfully launching the Eclipse Spyder. But , on this we wish to be clear: the continuation of our U.S. business is not directly tied to the sales success of the Outlander.

The U.S. is the most important market for MMC's revitalization: there is no intention whatsoever to withdraw.

Thank you for your continued sales efforts. We are supremely confident of our products, our plans, our employess, and our dealers in the United States. Let us not allow media reports or anything else to distract us from the work ahead of us: we have success waiting for us in FY2006!

Very sincerely yours,

Osamu Masuko
President, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation

 

Word. From the big man himself. Now I feel better.

This same thing happened a year ago. Somebody took something out of context, it made the headlines, then Mitsu had to do damage control a day later.

Must have been another slow news day and there weren't anymore plant closings or strikes from GM and Ford to talk about.

Saying Isuzu is pulling out wouldn't grab headlines, because very few people give a crap about them anymore.